Star Wars Galaxies: Restoration's 'Expanding Horizons' Update Adds 4K Texture Upgrade, New Playable Species, and Much More

This week, on December 15th, Star Wars Galaxies: Restoration launched its biggest update, “Expanding Horizons” 13 years to the day after the original Star Wars Galaxies shut down. The update adds new playable species, overhauled skill trees, new heroics, vehicle customization features, the Ranger profession, and a 4K texture upgrade.

This is a huge update, and that the community-supported project has gotten this far is significant. With the update this week the game  entered a new chapter. The new playable species in the update are: Bith, Chiss, Devoronian, Nautolan, and Mirialan. Each of the new species was created with custom art assets, and changing species is doable with a built-in nanite system.

There are new heroic challenges and rewards including 36 complete new jewelry sets.  To accompany this there are new earring slots. 

Along with these choices, skill trees have been redesigned to offer more options and more freedom to tailor your experience.There are 32 different skill trees and you can choose what traits and skill lines are most appealing to you. SWG Restoration is a sandbox, after all, so go ahead and try something new if you want or continue fine-tuning your playstyle. 

Trying something new is also available with the new vehicle customization options. the route is a vehicle reverse engineering system so you can loot parts and disassemble and play with vehicle parts, change speed or durability, and even add new abilities like extra acceleration or booster speed

Speaking of professions, the update added Droid Repair for engineers and the Ranger profession. Now if you are a Droid engineer you can increase droids’ base stats by maintaining them properly, using a diagnostic mini game and oil baths. The Ranger exists as a hybrid with abilities from the CU Sniper, pre-CU Ranger, and the NGE spy. The full patch notes go into more detail about how this profession is put together and operates, along with skills and how  you can add the versatility of stealth into your build.

The new 4k texture upgrade is across the board for UI and gameplay. This impacts the majority of textures, with Landscapes and structures being even more detailed than most.  When the original game closed down 13 years ago, these kinds of visual upgrades were basically a dream and now they are here to experience for yourself.